The timeless author Charles Dickens, whose vision of humanity transcends generations, wrote:

“Julia is steeped in money to the throat, and talks and thinks of nothing else … For, though Julia has a stately house, and mighty company, and sumptuous dinners every day, I see no green growth near her; nothing that can ever come to fruit or flower. What Julia calls ‘society,’ I see among it Mr. Jack Maldon … sneering at the hand that gave it to him … But when society is the name for such gentlemen and ladies … and when its breeding is professed indifference to everything that can advance or retard mankind, I think we have lost ourselves in that same Desert of Sahara, and had better find our way out.” – “David Copperfield” (1850)

For voters who willingly or unwittingly selected a candidate who is devoid of any morals or ethics such is Trump, leaving destruction in his wake, welcome to the desert of 2025 and beyond. I hope they can handle the scorching heat.

Elizabeth Manduca
Portland